Not accepting student failure: today, entrenched bureaucracies and various activist groups defend the status quo in America's schools, preventing any problems from being solved.

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Not accepting student failure: today, entrenched bureaucracies and various activist groups defend the status quo in America's schools, preventing any problems from being solved.

For a brief period in January, the Internet and talk shows were abuzz with chattel" about public schools: "Did Oprah Winfrey really imply that students aren't learning because they don't want to learn", "Is it true Oprah is building a $40 million school in South Africa, and she refuses to build one in the United States?"

Oprah did, in fact, disparage the efforts of inner-city school kids. She said in an interview with Newsweek: "If you are a child in the United States, you can get an education.... I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn't there. If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don't ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school." And...

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